All in a day's work

STOCKTON - Tony Stewart's second qualifying run of the day was slightly lower than the first, but it still was pretty good.

Scott Linesburgh

STOCKTON - Tony Stewart's second qualifying run of the day was slightly lower than the first, but it still was pretty good.

After qualifying eighth for this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Fontana, Stewart flew to Stockton and posted the 10th-best time in the time trials for the World of Outlaws race on Friday at the Stockton 99 Dirt Track at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds. A sellout crowd of 10,572 showed up for the debut of the new track built into the infield of the fairgrounds' horse racing facility.

The Outlaws main event was not completed at press time.

Stewart, a longtime dirt-racing aficionado, took advantage of having the Outlaws race upstate from the Sprint Cup event at Auto Club Speedway. He worked on a tight schedule Friday since he was the 42nd driver to qualify in Fontana. He will start eighth after posting a speed of 185.864 mph for the race he won last year.

Then he headed for Stockton Metropolitan Airport and arrived at the fairgrounds just in time to get in some practice laps. Fans anticipated his arrival and crowded around his pit area. They cheered and chanted his name when he came out of the trailer.

Stewart posted the qualifying lap of 13.658 seconds. A total of 44 Outlaws showed up, and points leader Daryn Pittman was the fast qualifier at 13.278 on the 3/8-mile track.

Sammy Swindell was second (13.385), followed by Kyle Larson of Elk Grove (13.386), Austen Wheatley (13.435) and Brian Brown (13.449).